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Twombls t1_j9cuo1v wrote

I think the real blocker is having the knowledge design your own pcb, or even implement a pre designed one.

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X7123M3-256 t1_j9d19s9 wrote

I put off learning how to do this until just last month because I thought it would be hard but it was actually really quick to learn. I followed this tutorial and it only took a few days to design my board having never done it before.

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JohnTheRedeemer t1_j9dwv8x wrote

Awesome, I have a robotics class and I was hoping when I was done with my final project that I'd print my own pcb and finalize it into something more permanent

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[deleted] t1_j9eiyj8 wrote

[deleted]

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ACCount82 t1_j9f4zc3 wrote

If you can design a basic schematic, you can design a basic PCB. And if you can open and understand schematics for some development boards, you can design a basic schematic.

That being said - it's still way beyond the skill level of an average guy. Sure, it doesn't actually require a PHD - but most people don't even know how to use an Arduino board.

But for those who want to get into hobby electronics or even embedded proper? There's never been a better time to do so.

Cheap and capable PCB fabs, free open source design and simulation tools, downloadable datasheets, open SDKs, readily available components and hardware tools and plentiful resources on how to use all of that. 20 years ago this just didn't exist. 40 years ago, "hobbyist PCB" involved hand drawing the traces, manually etching copper with corrosive chemicals and drilling all the holes - for projects that today would be considered basic.

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yiannistheman t1_j9fdraa wrote

I started off my career after college as a hardware engineer. I loved prototyping (although analog design wasn't my thing). I ended up moving in a different direction career wise, but today I'm always amazed by the level and sophistication of open source tools for simulation and design. You could DIY back in the day too, but like anything else CAD tools and existing fab options got to the point where just about anyone with a bit of training could have a professionally crafted PCB built at a very low cost.

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OmniManDidNothngWrng t1_j9f6g13 wrote

It's not that hard to make a board, but what use do 99% of people have for their own pcb? And then the problem comes when you try to sell it actually designing for rf regulations is legit phd level voodoo work.

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No_Nobody_32 t1_j9eszzw wrote

I used to use Visio (it had circuit design tools) for some stuff.

At school we had custom software to do it, but applying of the transfers and the etching of the boards was done by us with the usual chemicals.

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SolomonLeGrundy t1_j9gjvtx wrote

I mean, Reddit does seem to have a hard on for giving borrowed money to institutions that have no intention of helping them or delivering on promises. This fetish seems to present itself most when someone suggests that a task or procedure is actually very cheap and/or simple to perform oneself. Making such a suggestion tends to bring people out of the woodwork, furious that you would be so irresponsible/ignorant that you wouldn’t want to pay a ‘specialist’ exorbitant prices for whatever service.

I mean, don’t you know that without a PHD in electric engineering you’re going to burn down your apartment complex and only violent extremists would want to make their own circuit boards??

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lswins t1_j9gchl3 wrote

Guitar pedal PCB building is really big. Get everything in a box and the PCB has labels for all of the components

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